Railway car



CHER.

RAILWAY CAR. APPLICATION FILED APR-19, 192i.

JOHN A. PILCHERINVENTOR BY l/ ATTORNEY Patented Get. 241, 1922.

UNHTEI) STATES PATENT @FFHCCE.

JOHN A. PILCHER, OF ROANOJKE, VIRGINIA.

RAILWAY GAB,-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JoHN A. PILoHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Roanoke, in the county of Roanoke and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Cars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to railway cars and has for its principal object to provide a full width or maximum lading car body, that is, to produce a car body having the maximum possible load-carrying width within the limits of the track clearances. Other objects are to provide a suitable clearance space for such appurtenances as the ladders and to provide a car having a sturdy end construction for use on modern car-dumping machines. A still further object is to provide a car body of economical construction and in which the load may be entirely cleared when dumping in an up-side-down dumper. With such objects in view the invention consists of the formation, combination and arrangement of parts as will be herein described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanyin drawings which show a preferred embodlment of the invention, Figure 1-is a fragmentary plan view of a car body constructed in accordance with the present invention, this view showing one corner of the car body. Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the same, showing the upper portion of the same corner of the car. Figure 3 is a transverse vertical section taken through the upper portion of one of the car sides, the view being taken approximately on the line 3-1-3 of Figure 2. Figure 4 is a diagrammatical View showing, in plan, the complete end of the car constructed in accordance with the present invention,

Referring to these drawings the car body has sides 6, and an end 7. The sides are each formed of a vertically disposed web plate 8 with a top flange angle 9. The vertical leg 10 of the flange angle is attached to the exterior face of the web plate 8 and the horizontal fiange 11 is turned inwardly to overlie the web plate and toward the center of the car. The sides of the car body in general, or at the central portion of the car, are arranged in parallel fashion, and the web plates 8 are so disposed that they 00- cupy planes practically coincident with the clearance llnes along the track. The vertical leg of the flange angles and some rivet heads extend a slight distance beyond the planes of the web plates 8, but in general the webs may be considered as being carried out to the maximum possible distance. By this means the car body may be built so that'the coal carrying space is almost of the full width of the equipment limits. This is of great importance when constructing cars of 100- ton or l20-tons capacity, not only because of greater economy in the construction of the car, but also because road clearances limit the possible height to which the car may be built, and the limits of dumping machine or track scales determine the possible length of the car. At the same time it is necessary to incorporate in the structure such a loadcarrying member as the flange angle 9. In the present invention this flange member is directed inwardly in order to allow the web plate to occupy the desirable plane just described.

Such open top cars are frequently unload ed on an up-side-down car dumper and proll vision must therefore be made to prevent the coal from hanging up beneath the projection of the angle 9. To this end a filler block 12 is set in beneath the horizontal le of the flange angle, straps 13 being riveted to the cartoretain the sameinposition. This block is made of wood and may be renewed as often as is necessary by simply removing the straps 13. The block 12 is made of angular cross section so that it forms a wedge beneath the leg 11 of the angle 9, fitting against the adjacent inner surface of the web 8 of the car side 6, and forming an angular deflector for the lading. The filler block 12 thus acts to transform a portion of the interior face of the car side from a vertical plane to a plane set at an inwardly inclined angle. TlllS produces in effect a car body of less interior width at the top than at the bottom. For open top cars in the service 106* contemplated this is no disadvantage other than the slight loss in capacity due to the reduction in width. This however, is more than offset by the increase effected by setting the web plate out and extending the flange angle inward to overlie a portion of the cavity of the car.

It is necessary to locate ladders upon the sides of cars, near each end. It is therefore necessary in a car of the present type of construction to make suitable provision for setting the ladder back of the general plane of the car side in order that no part of it may extend beyond the general clearance limits. This l have accomplished by forming the end portions of the car'sides along planes at angles with the general parallel planes of the central portions of the car sides. Liners 55 have been applied to the drawings in Figures 1 and 4: to indicate the general planes of the parallel portionsv of the car sides and it can be seen in these two figures how the sides, near the ends of the car, are diverted in angular fashion, from the original planes. By this means a space within the general line 5-5 is obtained for the ladders 14 so that they do not exceed the general clearance of the car. The car is thus of less interior width at the ends than at the center of the car, although the overall width is practically the same throughout the full length of the car. It will be recognized that by this means of obtaining ladder clearance the sides of the car and particularly the side plates and the flange angles such as 9, may be made continuous without break or sudden change of direction which would not only diminish the strength of the structure but also make a ditlicult manufacturing proposition.

Difiiculty is frequently experienced in obtaining a solid bearing for heavy capacity cars against the cradle of the car dumper. In practice the car must be supported upon its side during the operation of dumping, and unless special provision is made the car body is frequently damaged. To this end the end plate 7 of the car is carried out as at 15 beyond the junction point of end and side, or to the general plane 5-?) of the car side. T he end of the car thus forms a sturdy memher for contacting the cradle of the dumper and prevents the damage to other parts of the car. particularly the ladders which are set in back of the over-reaching portions of the car ends. It will thus be seen that the car end, being extended out to approximately the plane of the outer limit of the flange angle. these two parts, together with the car side plates and occasional rivet heads, will all come into bearing against the cradle of the dumper so that the car has a large area of support, the ends constituting stiff transverse loadcarrying members. It is true that 1 ,aaaoee the aforementioned elements of the car may not be strictly in one plane, but in practice the variations are not enough, considering the yieldable nature of such an open top car, to prevent the general bearing desired. It will be recognized that by turning the horizontal leg of the flange angle 9 inwardly the angle is protected and a broad face of it is presented to the cradle of the dumper.

l have thus described a preferred embodiment of my invention. Other embodiments are contemplated within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit thereof.

What is claimed is:-

1. A car body having its side walls parallel at the center of the car and converging near the ends thereof, and projections near the end of the car extending outwardly to near the planes of the parallel portions of the car sides.

2. A car body having the end portion of one of its sides formed at an inwardly directed angle with the general plane of the side, and a ladder attached to the said an gular portion.

3. A car body having its side walls parallel at the center of the car and converging near the ends thereof, and ladders arranged upon the converging portions near the corners of the car.

a. A. car body having sides and ends, one of the sides being directed inwardly out of its normal plane near the end of the car, the adjacent end being carried out to the full normal width of the car.

5. A car body formed of less width near one end than at the middle of the car, and transverse load-carrying means extending outwardly from the end of the car to a plane approximately the full width of the car.

6. A car body havin sides and an end,

' the car end being carrie out beyond the lines of the adjacent portion of the car side, and

a ladder arranged upon the car side back of the overreachlng car end.

7. Acar body having a side with a top flange arranged to overlie a portion of cavity of the car, and a filler block arranged between the said flange member and an adjacent portion of the car side.

8. An open-top car body having a side with a projection extending inwardly therefrom, and a removable filler arranged looneath the projection.

9. An open-top car body having a side with F a projection extending therefrom, and an angular deflector arranged beneath the projection.

10. A car body having a side wall and an end wall, there being a stiffening angle attached to the outer face of the side wall, the end wall'of the car being carried out beyond the plane of the side wall to approx?- mately the same plane as the plane of the bers, the general planes of the sides being outer limit of the said stifi'ening angle. directed inwardly near the ends in a man- 10 11. A. full-width car body having sides ner to efl'ect a reduced outside width, and with Webs thereof arranged in parallel ladders located upon the sides of the car-near planes corresponding approximately to the the ends, and upon the portion of reduced equipment limit lines, top flange members width. extending inwardly from the webs, deflec- In testimony whereofiI aflix my signature. 15 tors arranged beneath the said flange mem- JUHN A. PILCHER. 

